The Missouri Department of Public Safety (DPS) confirms three people have been killed in and near southwest Missouri’s Golden City, during Wednesday evening’s storms.
The National Weather Service (NWS) in Springfield issued numerous tornado warnings on May 22, 2019 (map courtesy of NWS Springfield Twitter page)
Reporter Rob Meyer at Missourinet Joplin affiliate KZRG (AM 1310) says the storm stayed intact from Oklahoma into southeast Kansas and into Missouri.
“Joplin was spared but Carl Junction, which is a community just to the north of us, took significant damage. We have reports of several homes being completely destroyed,” Meyer says.
DPS confirms there were several injuries in Carl Junction, which is northwest of Joplin.
Jasper County’s emergency management director tells the “Joplin Globe” there is also tornado damage in nearby Oronogo.
The “Joplin Globe” reports Carl Junction schools have canceled classes for Thursday. The newspaper also reports the Carl Junction Area Chamber of Commerce is organizing a volunteer effort to remove storm debris.
Meyer says Carl Junction authorities are working to determine how many homes were destroyed.
“I do know that the Carl Junction Police Department and the authorities up there are actually trying to keep people out of the affected area so they can assess the damage themselves,” says Meyer.
Meyer says about a dozen homes have been destroyed in Carl Junction, adding that numerous other homes have roof damage.
The National Weather Service (NWS) in Springfield will send survey teams to the area to determine if tornadoes or straight line winds caused the damage. However, Meyer, who anchored KZRG’s Wednesday night on-air coverage, tells Missourinet it was a tornado.
Meyer says the tornado stayed on the ground, intact, from Oklahoma into Kansas and then into southwest Missouri.
He also notes Wednesday was the 8th anniversary of the 2011 Joplin tornado, which killed about 160 people.
The NWS warned Wednesday morning that possible tornadoes and flash flooding were possible across southern Missouri.
Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s interview Wednesday evening with KZRG’s Rob Meyer, which was recorded on May 22, 2019, before the storm fatalities were confirmed by DPS:
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